It wasn’t that long ago that inflight Wi-Fi was slow, unreliable, and very expensive. Many airlines saw inflight Wi-Fi provision as an ancillary revenue opportunity rather than a cost base that they had to swallow to attract passengers.
And until recently, passengers didn’t expect to stay connected at 38,000 feet. After all, even when there is inflight Wi-Fi installed, there was no guarantee that it would work fast enough to allow you to do the same things you use the internet for on the ground.
Things are, however, changing very quickly. Passengers are now demanding the ability to remain online at all times, and airlines are realizing that the quality and availability of inflight Wi-Fi is becoming a deciding factor in which flights passengers pick.
Airlines have a number of providers to choose from when they install inflight Wi-Fi, but one of the newest vendors on the market is Starlink, a sister project to Elon Musk’s SpaceX program.
Starlink uses what it describes as a ‘constellation’ of low-earth orbit satellites to provide broadband-quality internet service to nearly every corner of the globe. Essentially, Starlink’s satellite internet service offers the same Wi-Fi experience as you would expect from a traditional connection, pretty much anywhere in the world – including on a plane.
After a slow start in winning potential customers, Starlink is now on a roll, signing up airlines to revolutionize inflight Wi-Fi. So, which airlines have already penned deals with Starlink, and when can we expect this service to go live?
Hawaiian Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines was one of the first commercial airlines in the world to sign up for the Starlink inflight Wi-Fi service in 2022. The service will be installed on Hawaiian’s fleet of Airbus A330 and A321neo aircraft, as well as its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners. There are, however, no current plans to install Starlink on Hawaiian’s Boeing 717 fleet.
Like many airlines that have signed up to Starlink, Hawaiian offers the service completely free for all passengers.
Qatar Airways
Qatar Airways announced its intention to install Starlink inflight Wi-Fi in October 2023, with the ability to enjoy free video streaming quality Wi-Fi at speeds of up to 500 Megabit per second.
The Starlink installation process will start in the final few months of 2024, with three Boeing 777-300 aircraft set to be fitted out with the necessary kit first.
Qatar Airways intends to roll out Starlink across most of its aircraft fleet in the coming years, including its single-aisle fleet of Airbus A320 family aircraft and Boeing 737MAX planes (the first time that Qatar Airways has offered inflight Wi-Fi on these aircraft types).
Air New Zealand
Late last year, Air New Zealand said it planned to install Starlink on a domestically configured ATR turboprop plane in late 2024 as part of a four to five-month trial.
If the trial goes well, then the airline could rollout Starlink across other domestic aircraft, although no final decisions have yet been made.
United Airlines
United Airlines has just become the latest and so far the biggest airline provider of Starlink internet services. The Chicago-based carrier will install Starlink across its entire aircraft fleet of more than 1,000 mainline and regional aircraft starting in early 2025.
The rollout may take several years to complete, and we don’t currently have any details as to which aircraft will get Starlink installed first. Like other airlines, United plans to make broadband-quality Wi-Fi available to all customers completely free.
Zip Air and Air Baltic
Zip Air is the low-cost subsidiary of Japan Airlines and is the first carrier in Asia to have announced a deal with Starlink aboard its fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliners. The deal was announced in early 2023, although the rollout was delayed as the airline worked with regulators to achieve the necessary certification for the new system.
Latvian airline Air Baltic also announced its intention to work with Starlink in January 2023, and in doing so, became one of the early adopters of the service. Air Baltic intends to install Starlink across its entire fleet of Airbus A220 aircraft.
